Tooth Decay in F vs NF Countries
Fluoride advocates often claim that the reduction in tooth decay that has occurred since the 1950s is the result of the widespread introduction of fluoridated water. In 1999, for example, the Centers for Disease Control stated that “as a result [of water fluoridation], dental caries declined precipitously during the second half of the 20th century.” As support for this assertion, the CDC published the following figure:
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control (1999). Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Fluoridation of Drinking Water to Prevent Dental Caries. MMWR 48:933-40.
What the CDC failed to mention is that tooth decay rates have “precipitously declined” in all western countries, irrespective of whether the country ever fluoridated its water. Indeed, most western countries do not fluoridate their water and yet their tooth decay rates have declined at the same rate as the U.S. and other fluoridated countries. This fact, which is widely acknowledged in the dental literature, can be quickly demonstrated by examining the World Health Organization’s (WHO) data on tooth decay trends in each country. The following two figures and table, for example, compare the tooth decay trends in western countries with, and without, water (or salt) fluoridation.
| DMFT (Decayed, Missing & Filled teeth) Status for 12 year olds by Country – World Health Organization Data (2012) – |
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| Country | DMFTs | Year | Status* |
| Denmark | 0.7 | 2008 | No water fluoridation. No salt fluoridation. |
| Germany | 0.7 | 2005 | No water fluoridation. 67% salt fluoridation. |
| England | 0.7 | 2009 | 11% water fluoridation. No salt fluoridation. |
| Netherlands* | 0.8 | 2002 | No water fluoridation. No salt fluoridation. |
| Switzerland** | 0.82 | 2009 | No water fluoridation. 88% salt fluoridation. |
| Belgium | 0.9 | 2009-10 | No water fluoridation. No salt fluoridation. |
| Sweden | 0.9 | 2008 | No water fluoridation. No salt fluoridation. |
| Australia | 1.0 | 2003-2004 | 80% water fluoridation. No salt fluoridation. |
| Austria | 1.0 | 2002 |
No water fluoridation.
6% salt fluoridation.
|
| Ireland | 1.1 | 2002 | 100% water fluoridation in study. No salt fluoridation. |
| Italy | 1.1 | 2004 | No water fluoridation. No salt fluoridation. |
| United States | 1.19 | 1999-2004 | 64% water fluoridation. No salt fluoridation. |
| Finland | 1.2 | 2006 | No water fluoridation. No salt fluoridation. |
| France | 1.2 | 2006 | No water fluoridation. 65% salt fluoridation. |
| Spain | 1.3 | 2004 | 11% water fluoridation. 10% salt fluoridation. |
| Greece | 1.35 | 2005-06 | No water fluoridation. No salt fluoridation. |
| Iceland | 1.4 | 2005 | No water fluoridation. No salt fluoridation. |
| New Zealand | 1.4 | 2009 | 61% water fluoridation. No salt fluoridation. |
| Japan | 1.7 | 2005 | No water fluoridation. No salt fluoridation. |
| Norway | 1.7 | 2004 | No water fluoridation. No salt fluoridation. |
| * The Hague | ** Zurich | |||
Tooth Decay data from:
Water fluoridation data from:
Salt fluoridation data from:
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To see published research on the decline of tooth decay in the western world and specific non-fluoridated countries, click here.
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